The present invention relates to a charging connector accommodation apparatus to be applied to a truck-type (or pickup-type) electric vehicle equipped with a drive motor and a drive battery.
A truck-type (or pickup-type) electric vehicle having a loading platform is equipped with a frame serving as the framework of the vehicle body thereof, a cabin formed above and on the front side of the frame, a loading platform mounted on the frame behind the cabin, a drive motor, a drive battery, a charging apparatus that is used when the drive battery is charged, a charging connector electrically connected to the charging apparatus, and the like. When the drive battery is charged, the charging gun of a power cable or the like is connected to the charging connector.
In the case of a charging connector for use in a vehicle in which the rate of the cabin occupied in the entire vehicle body is high as in the case of a passenger car, for example, a charging connector accommodation section and a lid for closing/closing the charging connector accommodation section can be provided inside an outer panel or the like constituting the outer wall of the cabin as described in JP-A-2009-247176 or JP-A-2010-166756, for example.
However, in the case of a truck-type electric vehicle having a loading platform, different from a passenger car type vehicle having no loading platform, the rate of the cabin occupied in the entire vehicle body is low, whereby it is sometimes difficult to securely obtain a space for the installation of a charging connector in the cabin. Although it is conceivable that the charging connector is disposed on a portion of the vehicle body (for example, a side member), such a portion in which the charging connector can be disposed, other than in the cabin, (for example, the vehicle-body outer side face of the side member) is usually exposed to a side of the vehicle. Hence, it is necessary not only to protect the charging connector against collision with obstacles from the outside of the vehicle body but also to take a countermeasure to protect the charging connector against rainwater and against water, mud, and the like spattering during vehicle washing.